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Going a full league season unbeaten was an incredible feat for Arsenal back in the 2003/2004 season. Like many, I doubted that Arsenal, or any club for that matter, could surpass it.
Since then, the football landscape has changed. Chelsea, a club that had offered little in title challenges since the 1950′s were taken over by a Russian Oligarch. A few years later, Manchester City turned themselves from a club that was regularly yo-yoing between the top flight and the second tier into a powerful force with the help of an oil baron.
Both of those squads have cost a rather sickening amount of money to assemble. Both clubs are also known for buying excellent young talent and loaning them out. Some, including me feel this is mainly to stop other clubs near and around the ‘top 4′ in England from obtaining them.
Before anyone claims that I’m just another fan jealous of City’s and Chelsea’s ability to buy as many world class players as they see fit, I disagree. I say that I would rather win something by developing young talent and bringing in players off money we generate as a business. For me, winning a title the way Chelsea or City do is rather shallow. You could put my cat in charge of either club and they would challenge for trophies every season.
Arsene Wenger on the other hand, does not have such luxuries. He has to develop a style of play, nurture young talent and find rough diamonds that can be polished into real gems. Success has been long overdue for many Arsenal fans, but the fact is Arsenal have been up near the top reaches and continued to make money from it. This has led to our club now being in the position of having the capability of signing players like Mesut Ozil. We still can’t go and blow 200m on top players every six months like Manchester City, but we can now start to compete.
To finish above either of those teams is a massive achievement in my opinion. It’s a little like sending two people out to the stores to fill a Christmas hamper. One man has 100 pounds and one man has 1,000 pounds. Wenger has to come back with a better hamper, if you get my drift.
To his credit, Wenger has managed to keep this team together and they all seem to understand how to play with each other. Koscielny and Mertersacker are correctly being lauded as the best centre back pairing in the Premier League. Ramsey has surprised everyone, including me. We have to give Wenger credit here. He knew how good Ramsey could be when many doubted him. Jack Wilshere is turning out to be quite a talent again. Mesut Ozil has added the feel-good factor and the ability to open a defence up at any moment. Szczesney has been the best keeper in the league this season. The list goes on. The most important thing is, the players have played together for some time now and know how to play as a team.
This gives us a chance. Not just this season, but for the coming seasons. It’s not good to complain too much about the officials, but it’s not wrong to say both Chelsea and Manchester City have been getting a lot of help from them this season. Particularly as the race starts to hot up.
All we can do is keep winning. We can also hope that the furore surrounding some of the decisions lately on many TV networks will force the officials to…well…let’s just say ‘focus’ properly. So, with the spending power of City and Chelsea allied to the favourable refereeing, I think winning this title will be Arsene Wenger’s greatest achievement.
We’ll have to put up with the handicap (Man City/Chelsea’s cheat mode) until UEFA grow a pair and actually implement Financial Fair Play properly. It will be with great joy if and when we see Chelsea and Manchester City return to their rightful places. In the Championship. I hear Bill Gates may one day buy Scunthorpe. So their fans can relax a little as they may have a new plastic team to follow.